Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held a bilateral meeting with the Chief Adviser of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, H.E. Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit in Cairo today.
The meeting took place in a cordial environment, truly reflecting the existing goodwill and fraternal ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister highlighted the historical, religious and cultural linkages between the two countries. He expressed Pakistan’s keen desire to enhance bilateral cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emphasized on the need to make joint efforts to explore new avenues of economic cooperation and to take advantage of great potential to boost trade in sectors such as chemicals, cement clinkers, surgical goods, leather goods and IT sector.
The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to Bangladesh for the recent steps taken for facilitation of trade and travel between Pakistan and Bangladesh. This includes waiving off the condition of 100% physical inspection of the consignments from Pakistan and abolishment of special security desk at the Dhaka airport earlier established to scrutinize Pakistani passengers. Prime Minister also thanked Bangladesh for doing away with additional clearance requirement for Pakistani visa applicants.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction over recent positive developments in bilateral relations and noted with satisfaction the increasing frequency of high level contacts. They agreed to expand and deepen bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. They also emphasized the need to align efforts to achieve mutually-beneficial development objectives.
The two leaders acknowledged importance of people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges including enhanced exchange of artists, sportspersons, academics, and students etc. They noted with satisfaction the recent visit by the Bangladesh Cricket Team to Pakistan and concert of Pakistani artist in Dhaka.
Both sides agreed to forge greater cooperation at various multilateral fora, including D-8.
